Archive | Development

As you might have heard, the Minneapolis branch of the Federal Reserve has proposed a new 800 space parking ramp in the North Loop. The ramp would replace an existing 300 space surface lot. Plans for the ramp, which you can view here, call for a structure of five stories on the northwestern side of the site, abutting […]

Via the Met Council comes this interactive map of transit-oriented public parcels that can be developed. It allows you to search and view publicly owned parcels of land within 1/2 mile of select existing and planned transit facilities. The parcel dataset used for this map was derived from the MetroGIS Regional Parcel Dataset, and is the result […]

Like many of the maps I find I came across a webpage via Twitter, hat tip to @stateofthecity. The webpage takes data from the Global Human Settlement Layer and runs it onto Google Maps. This is the result, Human Terrain by Matt Daniels (@matthew_daniels). I immediately panned to tool over to Minnesota and geeked out. Something I […]

A friend compiled this series of Google Earth images. I scanned them, and intended to get on with my work, but I just couldn’t. I went through them again. And then again. I found myself rethinking the city I live in. Most people think Minneapolis looks like this: Or this: But, when you step back, […]

Once upon a time, sometime in 1989, the city of Saint Paul drafted a sustainable take-out container ordinance. It wasn’t called that, as the terms “sustainable” and “sustainability” weren’t widely used yet. It was written to help achieve city, county and state recycling and waste reduction goals through increasing the types of take out containers […]

The Star Tribune got big local developer Kelly Doran to talk about Minneapolis 2040, a plan that would allow more housing across all parts of the city. Doran said 2040 was “silly,” and that triplexes won’t turn him a profit. He even sees it as a threat to neighborhood character. It’s funny because Doran is constructing […]

Via Lisa Bender on Twitter comes this map from a 2013 CPED report to the city about permitted demolitions and residential unit development in 2013: Yellow represent demolition and rebuild. Orange represent new buildings on vacant lots. Red X indicates a demolition without subsequent permit to develop. MSPaint circle is via Ms. Bender.

Looking at the surface, an amphitheater at the Upper Harbor Terminal (UHT) would be fantastic. Selfishly, it’s just over 2 miles from me and the thought of seeing an outdoor concert at 10,000 capacity, and within walking distance is almost a dream. Awesome-O! I was intrigued enough to take a walk on the grid to hopefully […]

I had the opportunity to attend YIMBYtown in Boston. It’s a good chance to learn from other activists about what was going on in other cities, and to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Mostly though, people just asked me if I knew WedgeLIVE (yes) or if I was behind the […]

The Minneapolis City Planning Commission held a preliminary discussion about inclusionary zoning on Thursday night. Inclusionary zoning is a requirement that new apartment construction include a certain percentage of affordable units. Until a permanent policy can be adopted, City Council President Lisa Bender wants to implement an interim policy alongside the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. […]